Porsche Off Road Cars

With the pandemic still looming over our heads, 2021 was a pretty action-packed year for the auto industry. Sure, you had challenges, with automakers having to contend with issues like chip shortages, causing delays to consumers. But regardless, the show had to go on and we got some pretty cool cars making their debut, predominantly towards the latter half of 2021.

Let’s get one thing out of the way, 2021 really was also the year, when the market as a whole began to embrace EV’s and you could see several automakers both the legacy as well as EV startups bring several new models to market. Having said that, we did see some pretty cool ICE cars, also make their debut. Now there were several cars that made headlines this year, it was very difficult to pick out the best ones, but the cars on this list definitely stood out. Here’s our list of some of the most highly anticipated and important cars that were unveiled in 2021.

The Safari name has a rich legacy in Porsche’s history. As any die-hard aficionado of the German marque will tell you that it is a name that is of significant importance, given the pedigree it earned during its stint in rallying.

Since Singer Vehicle Design announced the ACS off-road 911 not that long ago, we have been sitting on our toes waiting for the final iteration to come out. As it turns out, we will have to show a little more bit of patience because there has been a hiccup related to the PORSCHE lettering stamped on the vehicle.

You don’t have to take our word for it that the first-gen Porsche Cayenne is a darn good off-roader without any aftermarket bits and bobs attached to it. YouTube is your friend here.

However, imagine what would a 2004 Cayenne be able to pull off on rough terrain if someone prepared it for such challenges. Oh, wait, it happened, because Canada’s Flat Six has built a Cayenne that’s bordering into motorsport territory - at least as far as looks go.

The Porsche 911 has been a capable performer for decades. Moreover, pound for pound, very few cars can match its on-road performance. At the same time, most 911 variants are perfectly good for daily use, which is why the rear-engine Porsche has been the epitome of a sports car that can be used on a daily basis. But what happens when you want to turn things to 11? What if you want to take your 911 away from its usual habitat that is the asphalt? There are more than a few specialists who can turn your 911 into an off-road adventure machine and the German tuner Delta4X4 has the latest offering on the market.

California-based Singer is known for doing impressive restoration work to classic Porsche 911s, but what it’s revealed today essentially takes the company to an all-new level. The 964-gen 911 you see here isn’t a 911 Safari, not by any means. It’s actually what Singer calls “The ACS.” If you’re not familiar with the name, ACS stands for All-Terrain Competition Study, and as you can see, Singer has turned this 911 into an ultimate off-road rally weapon.

Some might say that building, buying, and hooning a Safari 911 is a blasphemy. We digress. Porsche has such a solid connection with the world of rally racing (including Dakar and Monte Carlo back in the day) that a Safari-style Neunelfer feels as natural as breathing.

And while a lot of entities have been performing this sort of conversions on vintage 911s, we didn’t expect one such contraption to come from suspension specialist H&R. But it did, and it’s awesome.

Let us refresh you memory on what off-road-ready 911 Carreras have surfaced on the internet so far. We’ll give you two examples: the RUF Rodeo and the Gemballa Avalanche 4x4. Yes, the latter is still a concept, but so is the 911 4S by Delta 4x4. However, Delta plans to build it using the 992 911 Carrera 4S as a platform and if that’s not making you drool, we don’t know what will.

The Porsche 911 is mostly seen doing two things: driven in anger on the race track or cruising city streets or highways with a calm yet appealing flat-six soundtrack. But this iconic sports car can be more than that.

To the folks over at Kelly-Moss, a company building 911-based race cars and road-legal custom builds or restorations, the 911 is also a capable off-road machine. Not the kind that you can climb mountains with, but safari-spec models that you can use to tackle frozen lakes and sandy dunes.

Every now and then, what we like to call a boutique manufacturer drops a rad concept car with more than just hype in mind.

It’s the case of the RUF Rodeo Concept, which we’re absolutely sure was concocted to sample the potential buyer’s interest in an off-road-going sports car that retains the classic Porsche 911 shape we all love and crave but is fitted to perform in mediums where smooth asphalt roads are unheard of.

It’s not easy loving Porsche in this day and age. The 911 is still fantastic, but it’s easy to think that the German automaker sold its soul when they began creating sedans and SUVs. Now, it’s only going to get worse, as a diesel is afoot.

According to the Times Colonist, Laurance Yap, Porsche is currently considering bringing a diesel motor for the Cayenne to the United States. The option has been looked at before, but Americans have never taken too kindly to the motor, so Porsche stayed away.

Yet, with fuel economy standards becoming ever higher, Porsche is considering the idea. The idea makes sense, as Audi is currently in a clean diesel marketing push in the U.S. In order to compete, Porsche will look to add a diesel Cayenne, which is already on sale in Europe, to America and Canada.

Canadians are showing a strong interest in diesel-powered motors. Mercedes-Benz is selling 70-80 percent of their SUVs with diesels under the hood. Volkswagen are in the same boat, selling 90 percent of the Touareg with a diesel.

Porsche’s performance SUV, the Cayenne, is usually equipped with a 3.6-liter V6 as standard, but things will be a bit different in China because of the country’s tax laws.

According to Motor Authority, the base Cayenne will arrive in China with the motor from the Audi S4, a 3.0-liter supercharged TFSI V6. For those of you who are unaware, this is the same motor that is used in the Cayenne S Hybrid.

The reason that China will be getting this model is due to its displacement. In China, any cars that are between 3.0-liter and 4.0-liter are subject to a 40 percent tax. This could mean a massive penalty for those of us in the U.S and Europe. Thankfully, the new TFSI V6 is really a 2,995cc motor, so it gets a 25 percent tax, not the massive 40.

Yet, will smaller be better? We all know how good the Audi motor is and it might actually help the Cayenne perform better than it does here. The 3.0-liter V6 puts out 333 horsepower, 33 more than in the 3.6-liter. Not to mention the smaller motor should get better fuel economy.

So, despite their massive tax, China seems to be getting the better of the two engines. No word on if Porsche will share their new Cayenne 3.0 with us in the United States, as it would probably hike up the price of the $47,000 SUV.

Yet, as is the way with these things, the 3.0-liter will probably remain in China, as Porsche will likely keep it there, for fear that a more powerful and fuel-efficient Cayenne would hurt sales of the hybrid model.

Automotive politics in full swing. As Porsche increases its stake in VW from 31 percent to more than 50 percent, its earlier plans of making a smaller SUV based on the Audi Q5 has aroused. And news is out from Ingolstadt that Audi’s board members are against this proposition as they fear it might impact Q5’s sales.

Porsche’s Chairman Wendelin Wiedeking, for many years, has been trying to strike a deal with Audi to bring out a five-seater SUV. The Q5 was what he exactly had in mind. The Porsche Cayenne and the Audi Q7 were developed and are built on a common platform. Wiedeking’s idea of making it happen again with the Q5 has apparently not pleased the board members at Audi.

The Porsche Cayenne and Audi Q7 are in their own leagues even though they share the same platform. Porsche should stop buying such lame stories and go ahead with developing their own stuff and now with the increase in their stake, it is bound to happen anytime soon. I mean, who wouldn’t want to buy a mini-Cayenne? And once they bring out one, it would definitely destroy the BMW X3.